Different finishes for enamel pins

We often get asked what kind of finishes we can do, so we thought it would be best to explain about each different finish available for enamel pins!

Glow In the Dark Finish

Most people assume that the glow in the dark enamel pins have to be white, but this is not the case. We can make the glow in the dark effect on any colour.

To make the enamel pins glow we use an enamel ink which is colourless in with the colour that is requested to glow. Normally the lighter colours are the best ones to truly glow in the dark, but again, most colours will work with this and make your enamel pins stand out!

Glitter Finish

Having glitter in your enamel pin can make it pop! It is proving to be a favourite for most! Having glitter on your pin works best on soft enamel rather than hard enamel. Having glitter in your hard enamel can make it look silver or just glitter instead of the desired colour. But with soft enamel you can see both the colour and the glitter. In a previous blog post Roger explained the difference between both soft and hard enamel. Soft being 'bumpy' and hard enamel being a flat polished surface. Here is an example of the glitter finish on a Soft Enamel Pin.

Plated Metal Finish

These finishes can be used best for either or soft and hard enamel. The plating part of the enamel pin, the shape and details of the pin. You can use which ever colour; gold, rose gold, silver, black nickel and copper. It is basically the original colour of the enamel pin and other inks can be added to either the recessed or raised parts.

Dye'd Metal

If you want the backing of the enamel pin to be a different colour instead of the colour of the plating, then we do offer a dye to make this possible. Again this can be of any colour you wish. It works with soft enamel, unfortunately hard enamel can't be dyed and has to be a base metal colour (gold, silver, rose gold, copper or black nickel).

Printed Hard Enamel

We can put an incredible amount of detail in our enamel pins but sometimes there is just a little too much, which is where this finish comes in. With the pin below they get the image and cut to shape of the design and then printed onto the pin and then an epoxy resin to protect the design is put on top. Sometimes we may suggest that this will be the best option to go down as no one wants to loose the detailing as that is what makes the enamel pins!

Back Stamps

﻿Back stamps on enamel pins is a sure way to offer a more premium and customised enamel pins. Because of this we can offer a wide range of different stamps. We can make the stamps raised, indented, lasered and printed. Using different colours or to the colour of the metal.

Things to consider

When it comes to choosing your plating or desired upgrade, it is always best to think about the intended market and outcome of your pin. Hard enamel is generally a more premium and desired pin finish, it gives a more polished and professional look; looks great for company logos, flattened images and high end caricatures.

Soft enamel is great for cartoony looking illustrations and logos.

Please remember, that between each colour will have to be a separation line, if you wished for gradient finishes, you would have to go down the printed hard enamel route, as soft enamel or hard can't do gradient finishes.

Line thickness can be as small as .3mm

And that is most of the different finishes we can offer to make your enamel pins both unique and professional as you would like them.

Email us if you would like further information and we will be happy to help!